Florida A&M Rattlers To Participate In Andre Dawson Classic

Andrew Dawson Classic, the Annual HBCU Showcase Held at the New Orleans MLB Youth Academy and UNO Maestri Field – Prominently Features Seven HBCU Teams Alongside UNO

MLB Network to Air LIVE Doubleheader Contests from Both Showcases

Major League Baseball announced the participating teams in two annual showcase tournaments hosted around the start of the college baseball season – Andre Dawson Classic and MLB4.  Both MLB-hosted events will be held the weekend of February 18^th-20^th in New Orleans, La. (Andre Dawson Classic) and Scottsdale, Ariz. (MLB4), and will be highlighted through LIVE doubleheader features broadcast by MLB Network.

ANDRE DAWSON CLASSIC
In celebration of Black History Month, the Andre Dawson Classic, the tournament launched in 2008 by MLB to highlight Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) and their baseball programs, will return to New Orleans for the eighth time with games hosted at both the New Orleans MLB Youth Academy and Maestri Field at University of New Orleans. Participating teams, including seven HBCU programs, are as follows:

• Alabama State University (Montgomery, Ala.) – 6^th appearance; 2012-2013, 2018-2020, 2022
• Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, Fla.) – 2^nd appearance; 2019 and 2022
• Grambling State University (Grambling, La.) – 10^th appearance; 2011-2012, 2014-2020, 2022
• Jackson State University (Jackson, Miss.) – 1^st appearance
• Prairie View A&M University (Prairie View, Texas) – 7^th appearance; 2012-2013, 2016-2020, 2022
• Southern University (Baton Rouge, La.) – 14^th appearance; 2008-2020, 2022
• University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (Pine Bluff, Ark.) – 4^th appearance; 2018-2020, 2022
• University of New Orleans (New Orleans, La.) – 8^th appearance; 2014-2020, 2022
  • Non-HBCU

Four of the HBCU schools, including Jackson State University, Southern University, Florida A&M University and Alabama State University, will be featured LIVE on MLB Network and MLB.com on Saturday, February 19^th. Southern University will face Jackson State in a matinee game beginning at 1:00 p.m. CT (2:00 p.m. ET), with Florida A&M (Dawson’s alma mater) and Alabama State following soon after at 6:00 p.m. CT (7:00 p.m. ET).

Full tournament schedule (all times CT) is as follows (dates, times and match-ups subject to change):

*MLB Network Broadcast*